Historical Engineers
Pop Engineering
Famous Malfunctions
Engineering Devices
That's Good Policy
100
This engineer's last name is the name of a modern electric car company.
Nikola Tesla
100
This 3×3×3 color-coded puzzle can be twisted and turned along three axes to scramble and align its colored faces.
Rubik's Cube. The Rubik's Cube was created by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian architect and professor. He was greatly influenced by his father, a flight engineer and glider designer.
100
This famous ocean liner sank April 15, 1912. Its main engineering flaw was an insufficient number of lifeboats.
The Titanic
100
Engineers created this clever device to magnify the force applied at the handle, enabling heavy loads to be lifted with modest effort through mechanical advantage.
Jack, or hydraulic jack
100
True or false: Boeing employees are required to disclose relationships, outside activities, and financial interests that may pose a conflict of interest.
True. PRO-7 requires that employees disclose potential conflicts of interest. Employees may do this using an online disclosure form available via a link on the the Ethics home page.
200
During his lifetime, there were claims this engineer appropriated ideas from competitors without properly acknowledging them. (Hint: He invented the incandescent lightbulb).
Thomas Edison
200
This video game allows players to create complex structures, contraptions, and systems using game mechanics like redstone circuitry and command blocks.
Minecraft
200
This make and model car, pictured below, became infamous for the engineering of its fuel tank. It could rupture in low-speed rear-end collisions, causing fiery explosions and serious injuries or deaths.
Ford Pinto
200
This mechanical calculator, pictured below, had a profound impact on engineering, transforming the way calculations were performed
Slide rule. For centuries, slide rules allowed engineers and scientists to perform rapid calculations using physical manipulation.
The slide rule’s reign came to an end in the early 1970s with the introduction of low-cost, portable electronic calculators.
200
True or false: Boeing employees must use careful judgment when deciding whether to offer or accept a business courtesy.
True. Refer to PRO-6 which provides Boeing's guidance relating to business courtesies.
300
This engineer developed assembly and production lines that brought about mass car production.
Henry Ford
300
This Boeing fighter jet took to the skies in the 2022 Hollywood blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick.
Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet
300
In 1937, engineering flaws caused the crash of the famous airship pictured below.
The Hindenburg. Publicity surrounding the disaster shattered public confidence in giant passenger-carrying airships and marked the abrupt end of the airship era.
300
When this engineering wonder arrived, it transformed civilization and daily life. Powered by wind, it played a crucial role in the Agricultural Revolution.
Windmills. Windmills represent a key technology that enabled our ancestors to transform the power of the wind into a physical force. Windmills are used for many things such as grinding grain and moving water.
300
True or false: During an emergency (e.g., natural disaster), Boeing employees may use company resources to ensure their own safety or the safety of others.
True. This and other common questions regarding proper use of company resources are answered in PRO-10.
400
He was Boeing’s first aeronautical engineer and helped design the company’s first production airplane, the Model C.
Wong Tsoo
400
This animated series introduced video calling technology, influencing the engineering development of Skype, FaceTime, and Zoom.
The Jetsons
400
On April 26, 1986, engineering flaws contributed to an explosion at the nuclear power plant shown below, the most expensive nuclear disaster in history.
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine. The estimated cost of the disaster stands at $700 billion US, and the response involved more than 500,000 personnel. Cleanup will continue for decades to come.
400
This device is engineered to turn boats and ships.
Rudder
400
True or false: Boeing has a PRO that protects employees from retaliation.
True. PRO-7138 protects Boeing employees from retaliation. Additionally, our Code of Conduct also states that Boeing employees must "... never retaliate against or punish anyone who speaks up to report a concern."
500
These brothers are credited with engineering and building the world's first successful airplane, achieving the first powered, controlled, and sustained flight on Dec. 17, 1903.
Wilbur and Orville Wright, or the Wright brothers.
500
This television series follows the adventures of a secret agent armed with remarkable engineering ability, who is able to solve any problem out in the field using materials at hand.
MacGyver
500
The collapse of this bridge in 1940 is widely attributed to a design that did not adequately account for aerodynamic forces.
Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The bridge experienced resonance from vortex shedding, which caused significant vertical undulations.
500
What is the name of the engineering marvel pictured here, which is used to carry water from a source to a distribution point far away.
Aqueduct
500
True or false: Boeing employees may report ethical concerns by phone only.
False. Web-based reporting is available via the Ethics home page.